The Romance of Names Part 3

A man who had made pilgrimage to the Holy Land (Chapter XVII). The modern spelling is restored, but the _l_ remains mute. It is just possible that this name sometimes means tennis-player, as tennis, Fr.

le jeu de paume, once played with the palm of the hand, is of great antiquity.

Walter Poletar.

Pointer.

A dealer in poults, i.e. fowls. For the lengthened form poulterer, cf. fruiterer for fruiter, and see Chapter XV.

Reginald Aurifaber.

Goldsmith.

The French form orfevre may have given the name Offer.

Henry Deubeneye.

Daubeney, Dabney.

Fr. d'Aubigny. One of the many cases in which the French preposition has been incorporated in the name. Cf. Danvers, for d'Anvers, Antwerp, and see Chapter XI.

Hundred Rolls

Modern Form

Richard Knotte

Knott

From Scandinavian c.n.u.t, Canute. This name is also local, from knot, a hillock, and has of course become confused (Variant Spellings, Chapter III) with the nickname Nott, with cropped hair (Chapter XXII)--

"Thou nott-pated fool."

(1 Henry IV, ii. 4.)

Walter le Wyte.

White

The large number of Whites is partly to be accounted for by their having absorbed the name Wight (Chapter XXII) from Mid. Eng. wiht, valiant.

Adam le Sutel.

Suttle.

Both Eng. subtle and Fr. subtil are restored spellings, which do not appear in nomenclature (Chapter III).

Fulk de Sancto Edmundo.

Tedman.

The older form would be Tednam. Bury St. Edmund's is sometimes referred to as Tednambury. For the mutilation of the word saint in place-names, see Chapter III.

William le Boteler.

Butler.

More probably a bottle-maker than what we understand by a butler, the origin being of course the same.

Gilbert Lupus

Wolf.

Wolf, and the Scandinavian Ulf, are both common as personal names before the Conquest, but a good many Modern bearers of the name are German Jews (Chapter IV). Old Fr. lou (loup) is one source of Low.

Hundred Rolls

Modern Form

Stephen Juvenis.

Young

Senex is rarely found. The natural tendency was to distinguish the younger man from his father. Senior is generally to be explained differently (Chapter XV).

William Braciator.

Brewer.

The French form bra.s.seur also survives as Bracher and Brasher, the latter being also confused with Brazier, the worker in bra.s.s.

John de Cruce.

Cross, Crouch.

A man who lived near some outdoor cross. The form crouch survives in "Crutched Friars." Hence also the name Croucher.